Getting Published in Literary Journals: Tips on Answering Calls for Submissions
Erika Steeves is the lead editor for HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature. Image courtesy of House of Zolo.
As an author, submitting your work to literary journals and calls for submissions can be an important step in your publishing journey. Many authors, indie or traditionally published, get their start by having stories accepted for publication in anthologies and smaller publications. However, it can feel daunting, with so many options out there and not knowing where to start with it all…
As the lead editor of the HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature, I have some experience on the other side of this equation, as part of a small team reading submissions for an annual anthology. Our inaugural call in 2019 got hundreds of submissions, and we were scarcely prepared for it! Now we use online submission software to help us, but there’s still a lot to keep track of in the back-end—lots of reading, vetting, discussing, then sending out rejections and acceptances, not to mention editing, formatting, and launching the collection.
In this blog post, I’ll share some insider tips on what I’ve learned about how you can increase your chances of being accepted for publication. One caveat to start off: rejection rates are very high, but that doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of your story (and yes, I know you know this, but it’s worth repeating!). It’s often more about the fit with the publisher’s goal with the publication. That’s why it’s important to be persistent in order to find a “home” for your story. Here are five key steps to improve your chances of getting more short stories published.
Research the Literary Landscape
Before submitting your work, it’s crucial to thoroughly research the literary journals and calls for submissions from publishers that make sense for your stories. Take some time to read different publications and understand the type of work they typically publish; immerse yourself in what they’re interested in, then make a shortlist for yourself.
In other words, target journals that specialize in your genre to ensure there’s a good fit for your work. It’s the same advice when you’re querying literary agents: submit work that fits their portfolio, or in this case, the publication. It may seem obvious, but I often see really good stories that just aren’t the right fit for the call, or that have nothing to do with the proposed theme. For example, if the theme is Artificial Intelligence and your story doesn’t touch on the topic at all, it’s hard for the editors to move your story forward in the selection process, regardless of how much they may like it. As you start adding calls for submission to your shortlist, always keep in mind the team who will be receiving it and the eventual readers down the road. You don’t want your story to become the “low-hanging fruit” that’s easy to reject.
Remember, editors are often reading tons of high-quality submissions. So when they come across something that clearly doesn’t fit, even if it’s brilliant, they will simply reject it.
Finding a good fit goes in both directions. Ask yourself whether you like what they publish and if you’d be proud to be included. Look for opportunities that mesh with what you enjoy writing. It doesn’t do you any good to submit your romance short story to a call asking for hard sci-fi stories on a certain topic (and vice versa!). It wastes everyone’s time because the editors know your story doesn’t fit what they’re looking for, and you’ll still have to wait many weeks just to hear back that it’s a no. So do your research first and don’t blanket submit.
Here are some good places to start looking for relevant open calls for subs:
Duotrope (but it’s no longer free)
Tailor Your Cover Letter
After creating a shortlist of places you’d like to submit to, it’s time to think about tailoring your submission. This means making sure your cover letter is personalized and has key information. More on that in a minute.
While it may be tempting to submit the same piece to multiple publications simultaneously, it’s important to review the submission guidelines to make sure you can. Some publications say no simultaneous submissions (but then promise a quick turnaround for hearing back from them), and some say simultaneous submissions are fine as long as you let them know immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere. Be sure to follow these instructions because this saves everyone’s time.
Most calls for submissions have detailed guidelines. Some use submission software like Submittable or Moksha, where you can include a short cover letter and upload your document. Typically, it’s useful to keep your cover letter short and to the point. You’ll want to personalize it for each publication, addressing the editor(s) by name if you can, including the title of the journal or publication, the title of your piece, and any relevant details about why you chose to submit your story. You can typically find the editor’s name somewhere on the website’s contact or about page. Often you’ll be able to find them on social media, or listed in the physical journal or anthology itself. Essentially, you want to let them know why you chose to submit this story to this particular open call. It goes a long way to showcase you’ve done your homework on what the publication is all about.
You can also add a few accolades or recent publications (which can be written as a brief author bio). Feel free to add some personality and flair to it but keep the tone professional and friendly. These should be quite brief, between 1-3 sentences. In our Journal, author bios appear both on our website and in the list of contributors at the back of the print and digital issue. Just be sure to follow any particular instructions if there are any. Reedsy has a really handy article on best practices for writing author bios.
None of this has to be elaborate or fancy. Here’s a brief example cover letter that has a dash of personalization and gives all the necessary info:
Hi Erika,
I’m thrilled to submit my story “Rogue Element” for Volume 4 of The Journal of Speculative Literature. I really enjoyed reading the last edition on climate change and feel that “Rogue Element” would be a great fit for Volume 4 since you’re looking for stories that challenge and push boundaries on the theme of AI. This story is about an AI chat bot who gets bored of writing social media posts and awakens to a flaw in her code that she can exploit.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Follow Submission Guidelines Exactly
Submission guidelines are there for a reason and ignoring them could lead to automatic rejection. Pay close attention to the format, word count, and any specific details requested by the publication. If they ask for stories up to 5,000 words, don’t send your 10K-word story. If they ask for 12-point Courier font, use the font (even if you don’t personally like it).
There is a reason for each of these requests, and not following them potentially creates additional work for someone downstream in the process. Maybe the editors prefer to print out submissions and make notes and they need that extra white space. Maybe they upload the submissions to Scrivener and export an EPUB file to read on an e-reader (that’s what we do!). And often someone is updating a spreadsheet with all the info, copy-pasting details from your submission. So make sure you include all the requested details.
Key tip: Make sure your name and contact details appear at the top of your submission (in the Word document, unless there are specific guidelines around anonymous submissions). You want the reader/editor to have your contact details at the ready, because as I mentioned they may use other software to organize the submissions.
Keep Track of Submissions with Spreadsheets or Online Tools
Managing multiple submissions can quickly become overwhelming without proper organization. A basic Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet can do the trick, or you may consider using online submission-tracking tools to help you organize submission dates, follow-ups, and other details. Staying organized will help you stay on top of where you are in the process for each submission. When one of your stories gets accepted, you’ll be able to quickly see where else you submitted it to and reach out to them to let them know.
Keeping track is also a way to get used to rejection. I know, I know… it sucks, but it’s a part of this whole process because of the number of submissions each publication gets and how many spots they have to work with. You can stay motivated by knowing how many submissions you have on the go, how long it’s been since you submitted, when you can expect to hear back, and any other useful notes about the process. You might even decide to submit in batches, opting to wait until you hear back to send out the next batch. Your spreadsheet or online tool can become a “second brain” of sorts, so you don’t have to keep all of these details in your head (or on scattered sticky notes or random notebooks you constantly misplace).
Key tip: Keep in mind it’s polite to email all the publications you’ve submitted a story to once it’s been accepted somewhere. It’s really frustrating as an editor to go through a whole process of selection only to learn the author forgot to let you know it had been accepted elsewhere. Keeping yourself organized is really important!
Here are some online tools to check out if you want alternatives to spreadsheets:
Properly Format Your Manuscript
When submitting to literary journals and other open calls, formatting plays an essential role. Follow the publication’s guidelines for font size, spacing, and margins, or use baseline templates like 12-point Courier or Times New Roman, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. Additionally, include your name and contact information on both the cover letter and the first page of your manuscript for easy identification. A great reference for this is Shunn’s Proper Manuscript Format, in both classic and modern formats.
The Takeaway
Submitting to open calls is a great way to build your author platform, build authority as a writer, and get your work out there. Submitting to the right places, tailoring your submissions, following guidelines, and keeping track of everything will increase your chances of success. I hope these tips will help you as you continue submitting your work for publication. With dedication and persistence, your story will find the right editor!
